164 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



V 



Fig. 95. Cast and wrought iron props for sttpporting climbers. 



452. The durability of wooden props may, perhaps, be increased by soaking 

 them in Burnett's anti-dry-rot composition ; or if they are made of deal, by 

 first kiln-drying them, and afterwards soaking them in linseed oil. After 

 the oil is thoroughly dried, which will require two or three weeks, the sticks 

 may be painted. Sticks of red deal, treated in this manner, will remain 

 good for upwards of twenty-five years. (Hort. Reg., i. p. 301.) Mr. Mas- 

 ters is of opinion (Gard. Mag., xv. p. 321) that the duration of hop-poles 

 may be doubled by kyanising ; but little benefit has been yet derived from 

 it in the case of props for garden plants. Mr. W. H. Baxter (Gard. Mag., 

 xv. p. 542) found kyanising of little or no use. 



453. Garden tallies and labels are articles by which names or numbers are 

 attached to plants, and they are of many different kinds. The materials 

 are wood, iron, zinc, lead, or earthenware, and the forms are still more 

 various than the materials. The most durable are those of lead, with the 

 name or number stamped with a steel punch or type, and rendered con- 

 spicuous by having the letters filled in with white lead paint. The most 

 common are made of wood, with the numbers, in imitation of the Roman 

 numerals, cut with a knife. To form tallies to receive numbers of this 

 description, take firm ash rods, about an inch or an inch and a half in dia- 

 meter ; saw them into lengths of ten or twelve inches ; point the lower end 

 rather abruptly, and either plane or cut with a knife a surface sufficient to 

 receive the number required on the upper half. This kind of tally may be 

 made during winter and wet weather, when little else can be done, and a 

 stock kept on hand for use, if required. They are found to last eight or 

 ten years, according to the situation in which they are placed. Some- 

 times the number is written or painted, and the writing is in ordinary 



